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Ralph Anthony Vogel, Jr., age 94, of Three Rivers, passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at Heartland Healthcare Center in Three Rivers.
He was born July 16, 1925, in Columbus, Ohio to the late Ralph A. Vogel, Sr., and Olga (Valls) Vogel.
He served in the United States Navy during WWII. He had a long career as a mechanical engineer with Essex Wire and United Technologies Corporation, where he secured numerous patents, by himself and with co-workers. All of Ralph’s family, friends, and colleagues relied on his ability to design, build, or repair anything mechanical or electrical. In his retirement he travelled the world with his beloved wife Sarah, built and flew an Ultralite airplane, and sailed on Corey Lake. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recognized Ralph for his decades of measuring water clarity at Corey Lake. Having graduated from Ohio State University in the late 1940s, he was a lifelong fan of Ohio State football. He restored, and donated to the City of Three Rivers, a railroad velocipede which had been built at the Sheffield Car Company in Three Rivers in the nineteenth century; this velocipede is currently on display at the local library.
He was preceded in death by his wives Sarah E. Vogel and Mary Ellen Brown and his brother, Arthur Vogel.
Survivors include a son, Terence Vogel and wife Daphne; daughters, Christine M. Horsmon and husband Albert; Kathleen Vogel; Barbara M. Vogel; Lisa M. Sussex and husband Dr. Michael Sussex; a stepdaughter, Kathy L. McDonough; and a stepson, John E. Kroggel and wife Barbara. His eight grandchildren include Charles Vogel, Nik Horsmon, Hannah Rice, Cash Scott, Claire Utrecht, Jolise Kent, Grayson Dudd, and Mina DeBoer. His step-grandchildren are John McDonough, Tom McDonough, Kristofer and Kevin McDonough. He has six great-grandchildren, and three step-great -grandchildren.
A memorial Mass for Ralph Vogel will be held Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (601 S. Douglas Ave., Three Rivers), with Fr. Mathias officiating. A memorial service will be held later that day at 1:00 p.m. at Meyer Broadway Park (59475 County Park Drive, Three Rivers), with Rev. Brenda Deily of First Presbyterian Church Three Rivers/Centreville officiating. Private burial of cremains will follow in Harwood Lake Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations may be sent to Three Rivers Homecare and Hospice, 711 S. Health Parkway, Three Rivers, MI 49093, or the Carnegie Center for the Arts in Three Rivers.
